Some truth about slavery

Wish I'd said that!

[Reprinted from Issues & Views July 30, 2001]

"Adanggaman" is a film directed by an African from the Ivory Coast, Roger Ngoan M'bala. So far, it has been shown in Toronto, Vienna and in Africa at the Fespaco Film Festival. Since the film raises questions about the complicity of Africans themselves in the slave trade, it is provoking criticism and controversy. The story is about an African army that runs a slaving operation for King Adanggaman. Through his army, the king abducts villagers to sell to European slave traders.

As reported on the website "Your Dot Com for Africa," Reuters journalist Isabella Matambanadzo claims that the film evoked strong emotions, and drew criticism from some who feared it absolved Europeans of guilt. On the other hand, says Matambanadzo, it also drew praise from those who say they are tired of whites taking all the blame.

Leon Da Bourdia, who attended the screening of the film, is quoted as saying, "This film really fills a gap. It will be a useful tool to help our children understand an episode in our own history." Journalist Estelle Cornado declared, "White people are always the guilty ones. It may sound a little bit selfish, but it's reassuring to see that African film makers have started to acknowledge that history is not that simple."

About current black demands for reparations from whites, the film's director had this to say: "If there's compensation, should the seller or the buyer be held accountable? And it would have to be those who were taken away and sold who deserve the compensation, because some Africans who stayed colluded with the European traders. Europeans could not have taken hold on a continent like Africa and stolen the strongest of our children if there had not been collaborators."

And journalist Mafarma Sanogo, who organized forums and debates on the film, had this to say: "After having seen the film, we would embarrass ourselves to ask for reparations. We've just seen how slavery was not caused only by white traders, but that it existed even before the arrival of the whites. The Negro kings, who enslaved other black people, made the bondage of their own sons possible in the New World. Who is it we can compensate today?"

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